ASTANA, January 25. /TASS/. The US authorities use militants of the terrorist group Islamic State (banned in Russia) in attempts to destabilize Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, Russia’s special presidential representative for the Syrian settlement, told a news conference following the 21st international meeting on Syria on the Astana platform.

"We believe that the US military presence is the root cause of the continuing instability and, in some cases, even degradation of the situation in certain areas [of Syria]. It is an open secret that they remain in Syria under the pretext of continuing the fight against the Islamic State. But we know, and there are reliable facts confirming this, that the Americans are using the very same IS militants to destabilize the situation in those areas of Syria that are under the control of the Syrian government," Lavrentyev said.

He said this was well seen in testimonies by fighters who had been captured by the security forces of the Syrian Defense Ministry.

"We believe that this is absolutely unacceptable and could have very negative consequences not only for the United States. It could cause big trouble in Europe. There have been reports that many IS militants intentionally move to these countries and settle there for further action on European territory," Lavrentyev explained.